Probiotics, also called beneficial bacteria, can provide beneficial effects to the hosts such as maintaining a normal host gastrointestinal microflora and increasing resistance against pathogenic bacteria. Particular ingredients are known to support the growth or maintenance of beneficial bacteria so as to modify gastrointestinal microbial community in a beneficial manner. Such ingredients are called “prebiotics.” Typical examples of known prebiotics are oligosaccharides such as fructooligosaccharides and inulin.
Antibiotics have been used to treat infections of pathogenic bacteria for many years. However, antibiotics may also kill beneficial bacteria and therefore adversely affect microbial balance in the gastrointestinal tract, which may in turn lead to an adverse gastrointestinal effect, such as diarrhea (i.e. antibiotic-associated diarrhea, AAD), stomachache, and abdominal cramp.